Mar 29, 2026
3 min read
In 1989, a movie was a huge hit and was known as the best movie of the year.
The film from 1989 has been called the year's best in hate today
In 1989, a film was a great success and was recognized as the best film of the year.Since then, the legacy of Driving Miss Daisy has been widely rewritten, as it is now often remembered as overrated and outright hated by some audiences.
Who nominated 'Driving Miss Daisy' as the best film of 1989?
After its release on December 15, 1989, Driving Miss Daisy became a worldwide success.Made for $7.5 million, it grossed over $145 million at the international box office.It has earned him lots of money, critical acclaim and many prestigious awards.
Specifically, Driving Miss Daisy received nine Oscar nominations and won four, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress for Jessica Tandy, and Best Makeup.This school also awarded Hollywood's most prestigious award of the year, the Oscar for Best Film.The powerhouses behind some of the major awards showed they had come to the same conclusion.
The film won in all three Golden Globe categories in which it was nominated.Jessica Tandy won Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, and Morgan Freeman won Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.Most importantly, Driving Miss Daisy won Best Picture – Musical or Comedy.
Driving Miss Daisy is now a hit and hate for some
Although Driving Miss Daisy was critically acclaimed and wildly successful, it had its detractors from the start.However, that initial complaint came at a time when the film was being celebrated by others.Now, decades since its release, the film has been left with memorable reactions.
In 2025, Collider ranked "Driving Miss Daisy" as the second worst Best Picture Oscar winner of all time.The medium described its portrayal of extreme racism as "neat, neat and popular, like a fairy tale or a Hallmark movie."A 2022 Pop Dose article made a similar point, arguing that the story felt like something out of 1949. It described the film as "an old-fashioned exploration of a white Karen raping a black man" that was "bad even in 1989."
One of the main reasons why moviegoers were disappointed by Driving Miss Daisy was that it won the Oscar for Best Actor over Do Good, which was not nominated.Perhaps the most shocking thing about the film comes from the director of Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee.In a 2015 interview with The Daily Beast, Lee pointed out that now riding Miss Daisy is unnecessary.
"Nobody talks about Driving Miss Daisy. That movie isn't taught in film schools around the world like Do the Right Thing.
Viewers have always added their own strong opinions to the discussion of Driving Miss Daisy.An example of this happened on Letterboxd, Gabe Rodríguez did not hold back his review of the famous film before."I hated this movie! I hated this movie! I hate it!"
This story was published by Men's Magazine on March 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section.Add Men's Magazine as a recommended source by clicking here.
